Robots are becoming more common in everyday life, and this trend is accelerating, as seen in Elon Musk’s announcement of a humanoid robot produced by Tesla. Enough to bring back to the fore the ethical questions around the awareness of artificial intelligence and the development of robotization. We review the latest advances in automation and robotization.
Robots for tough jobs
Robots have already been called to the rescue in sectors that are suffering from the shortage of manpower: we find them replacing caregivers or waiters, for example. Generally speaking, they are practical for entrepreneurs who have to face difficult recruitments in sectors in tension. Some industrial robots are also developed and used in factories, to avoid outsourcing production to China. In the fields, agricultural robots come to lend a hand to producers, who do not want to replace workers, but perform the least pleasant tasks and optimize the monitoring of agricultural data using algorithms. Recently, “robot goats”, or “robot dogs” have been unveiled, to carry heavy loads (up to 100 kilos). Developed by Kawasaki engineers, this robot is capable, like goats, of reaching difficult terrain and moving quickly on flat ground. This robot could replace humans to patrol industrial sites and, thanks to cameras, contribute to logistics and rescues. Boston Dynamics robot dogs are already being used to operate or monitor places that are difficult to reach or dangerous to humans. In Pompeii, for example, this robot dog was used to monitor and preserve the site, including underground structures, “where the security conditions are not met to bring in personnel, such as in the many very narrow and dangerous tunnels of the site”explains Gabriel Zuchtriegel, site director.
When man creates the robot in his image
Part of robotics focuses on developing robots that look as human-like as possible, to create real substitutes, and even to be able to give them an “animated” or “sentient” character. After Sophia, this humanoid robot created by Hanson Robotics, which surprised everyone, but still had some flaws, Engineered Arts created Adran, whose face and expressions are close to perfection. During the Qatar Economic Forum, Elon Musk said he also wanted to contribute to the development of a humanoid, with the announcement of his robot Optimus. This first robot from Tesla combines the supernatural functions of animal-inspired robots, while featuring a human form. This robot, which measures 1.73 meters and weighs 56.7 kg, can move at a speed of 8 km/h, lift 68 kg and carry 20 kg. It is designed to help in the factory, but also as a help at home. The general public will have to wait for the Tesla AI Dayscheduled for September 30, 2022, to meet him.
Tax robots to protect jobs
For Elon Musk, in the future, physical work will be a choice: “If you want to do it, you can, but you don’t have to.“, he launched. According to the OECD, robotization could eliminate around 16% of jobs in France within 20 years. To protect jobs, the idea of ”taxing robots” is not new. Other labor market specialists rely on training so that the workstations occupied by robots are replaced by others that are more rewarding, less repetitive or dangerous, where the human is not replaceable, but would serve robots to optimize its efficiency.